


With Clouds Between Their Knees

by zubeneschamali



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 09:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21720103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zubeneschamali/pseuds/zubeneschamali
Summary: Jensen's got superpowers, but not enough to rate him higher than being a minion—in his case, to mad scientist Misha. Jensen's also got a crush, on Super City's tallest superhero, Incendium, who also happens to be Misha's archenemy. But then Jensen gets to know Incendium in a different light, and everything gets much easier—until Misha's latest project threatens to destroy them all.
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 20
Kudos: 184
Collections: SPN J2 Xmas Exchange





	With Clouds Between Their Knees

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the spn_j2_xmas exchange for jennylynneh. The title is from the best superhero song out there, "Superman (It's Not Easy)" by Five for Fighting: "men weren't meant to ride/with clouds between their knees"

"This is the right setting, Copperman. I'm sure of it." Misha adjusted a few dials on the contraption in front of him and stood upright, beaming behind his bright purple mask.

Jensen sighed and folded his arms over his chest. "It's just the two of us, Misha. You can call me Jensen. And anyway, it's Cuprum."

Misha shook his head. "No one knows what Cuprum means. They'll end up calling you Coop for short, and that doesn't sound very menacing. You'll never advance from minion status that way. Now come on, help me fire this up. It's time to show this town that the Nullifier is a force to be reckoned with."

Jensen sighed again. He didn't really have a burning desire to advance from minion status. Maybe he could be a sidekick, if there was someone willing to take him on with his somewhat limited powers. Supervillains didn't really get sidekicks, being evil and all, so he'd have to find someone other than Misha to apprentice with. But at this point, what kind of superhero would take someone on who'd spent their first three years of training with a supervillain?

The machine sputtered to life, a shower of sparks flying out of the tubing on one side. Jensen focused his energy on the pipes there and pressed his fingers together in the air in front of him. The copper bent to close the small gap, and the sparks stopped.

"Excellent." Misha grinned. "And now, Super City, feel my wrath!"

He pressed the big red button at the front of the machine. It started to whine, getting higher and higher pitched as it went. Jensen kept his senses attuned to the wiring throughout it, watching for signs of sparking or rupture. No use blowing themselves up instead of the city.

Not that they were going to blow up the city. Jensen was fairly certain about that. Misha certainly had grand ambitions, and there _was_ the time that he clogged the river with enough Kool-Aid powder that the Super City Water Department had to supply bottled water to the residents for a month.

But this machine, with its elongated transmitter pointing towards the center of the city from the mountaintop on which Misha's lair was perched, had been under construction for over a year. Jensen had learned a lot about working with electricity in the process, honing his powers and manipulating copper wires ever more precisely. And they had gotten a laser beam to shoot out of the front for about two seconds that one time.

Now, the machine was whining almost out of the range of Jensen's hearing, and it was starting to shake. "Misha!"

"Just a little more. It's almost there!"

There was a violent rattle, and then the machine came to an abrupt stop. The transmitter slowly rotated downward, making the whole thing look like a bird with its beak to the ground. 

"Damn it." Misha tapped the big red button but didn't press it. "I was so sure."

"Maybe a lever instead of a button?" Jensen suggested for about the tenth time. "So you can ease into it instead of firing it up all at once?"

"No, it needs to be ready to go at a single touch. Argh, I have all this power at my fingertips, and I can't get it to do what I want! This is so frustrating."

Jensen clapped him on the shoulder. He was pretty sure Misha just couldn't resist the drama of a big red button to push. "Better luck next time."

Suddenly, there was a swooshing sound from above. The abandoned observation tower they were using was the perfect location for aiming at Super City, but it was somewhat vulnerable to attack.

"Here we go again," Misha muttered. He snatched a ray gun from the rack on the wall and tossed it to Jensen. "Make sure whoever it is is sorry they messed with the Nullifier."

"And Cuprum," Jensen reminded him, hefting the gun in his hand. He squeezed it lightly, using his power to disconnect the wires inside. He didn't want to risk accidentally firing it at someone in case the tension got out of hand, and since it was one of Misha's more recent inventions, he wasn't entirely sure that it wouldn't backfire on him.

And then a tall, broad-shouldered figure in a flame-orange cape and catsuit came swinging through the window, and butterflies started to flutter in Jensen's stomach. "Incendium," he breathed out.

"Nullius!" Incendium called out, looking around the chamber from behind his red mask. 

"It's Nullifier," Misha growled from the other side of his machine. "Why can't you people get it right? I don't have the hard-on for Latin that everyone else around here does."

Jensen felt his cheeks growing warm. 

"Whatever you're trying to do with this infernal machine, I demand that you stop immediately! The citizens of Super City deserve not to live in fear of your treacherous inventions and the threat they pose to their life and liberty!"

Okay, so the overly-flowerly language was a bit of a boner-killer, Jensen thought. But only a bit.

"You cannot stop the Nullifer!" Misha roared. He sprang out from behind the machine with his raygun leveled at Incendium. "Copperman, seize him!" 

Incendium turned towards Jensen. "Copperman?"

That annoyed Jensen enough to point the raygun at him. "Just leave us here and leave us alone!"

"I can't do that. The city depends on me!" 

Misha squeezed the trigger and then yelped. Jensen and Incendium both looked over to see the gun on the floor and Misha holding onto the fingers of his right hand with his left.

When Incendium looked back at Jensen, Jensen shrugged. "See? Perfectly harmless."

Incendium put his hands on his hips, the fabric of his suit stretching across sharply-defined pecs that were not at all making Jensen's dick start to perk up. "I'm sorry, but I can't take that chance."

With that, he pointed at the machine.

For a moment, nothing happened. Jensen and Misha exchanged glances. Then there was a burning smell, and suddenly Jensen could sense the copper wiring heating up. He started backing up, and Misha did the same.

A moment later, flames were licking out of the top of the machine, popping and cracking in the air. Incedium had his hands on his hips, a satisfied expression on his face. "My work here is done," he said before turning and somersaulting out the window.

Jensen and Misha promptly left the building via the more mundane method of the stairs. "That fucker," Misha muttered as they went. "Months of work, down the drain. I'm going to start working on a device to neutralize his power."

"How are you going to do that? Create a little rain cloud to follow him around?"

Misha tapped his chin with one finger. "That's an interesting idea, Copperman."

"Cuprum," Jensen muttered.

Misha was already pacing back and forth in front of the observation tower, muttering to himself.

Jensen looked up at the building, where the last of Misha's machine was going up in smoke. That was when he realized the machine wasn't the only thing on fire. "Um, Misha?"

"This is Danneel Harris with the six o'clock news. Our breaking story is the conflagration at the old military observation tower on Northerly Peak. Sources say that the fire is under control and not in danger of spreading to the surrounding vegetation, but that the structure itself is a loss." The camera panned behind her to show flames leaping into the sky, with half a dozen fire trucks spraying water at the base of the former building.

The reporter went on, "My sources tell me that this tower was being used as the lair for one of our city's lesser-known supervillains. The Nullifier claimed this location as his base a couple of years ago after the incident with the Blue River. There is speculation that it was one of his evil experiments gone wrong that started this blaze."

"Oh, come on!" Misha lifted one hand in the air. "What do you mean, lesser-known?"

Jensen took a sip of his beer to hide his smirk. Then, to wind him up further, he said, "And it's so unfair to blame the blaze on you."

"Right?" Turning towards him, Misha said, "It's all that stupid Incendium's fault. And no one will believe me over him, because he's the superhero and I'm the supervillain. It's just not fair." He crossed his arms over his chest and sank back into Jensen's couch. 

Jensen managed not to smile at the way Misha was pouting by reminding himself that a) his supervillain mentor had just lost all of his equipment and materials and b) was going to be crashing at Jensen's place for the foreseeable future as a consequence. He cleared his throat. "Listen. You're welcome to stay in the spare room. But I'm afraid you can't work on any experiments here."

"Jensen, my lab is gone! My lair is gone! My very reason for existence! If I cannot resume my vital work, my very soul will be bereft."

"Then you should work on getting a new lair established. I don't mind putting you up here, but the homeowners' association has really strict rules. No superhero or supervillain activity allowed."

Misha narrowed his eyes. "So you don't even mess with the wiring in your own house?"

"Home improvement projects don't count."

"Mmm-hmmm." Misha looked at him a moment longer before sighing. "Well, I guess I can stick to that for now. No point in both of us losing our homes."

"I appreciate it," Jensen said dryly. "Hey, I've got one of your drones in the garage that I was fixing up the wiring on. You could use it to scout for a new location."

Misha was stroking his chin. Finally he said, "That sounds like an excellent plan, Jensen. They won't be able to keep the Nullifier down for long!" 

The next morning, Jensen got up bright and early like he always did, ready to head to work. He left Misha a note with instructions for the coffee maker, a list of his breakfast options, and a reminder not to do anything supervillainous in Jensen's house. Then he got on his bicycle and pedaled down to the coffee shop.

Felicia was just starting to set up, and she gave him a cheery wave as he came in. "Morning, Jensen!"

"Morning, Felicia." Yawning, Jensen pulled his apron over his head and fired up the first espresso shot of the morning, barely letting it cool before pouring it down the hatch. He cracked his neck to one side and then the other. Ready for the day.

It was a typical Monday morning, businesspeople and college students giving them a steady line of customers from before seven until after ten. Alex showed up for his shift around nine, the first time Jensen really had a breather.

After his first break, things got quieter. The commuter rush was over, and the tables were mostly full with freelancers who made it their workplace. The simple black and white design of the shop made it a distraction-free place to work, and Jensen like how the clacking of laptop keys and the occasional quiet phone conversation gave the place an air of relaxed but focused work. And people were pretty good about buying additional coffees or pastries as they stayed longer into the morning, so that was nice, too.

It was a little after ten when Jensen looked up from cleaning the espresso machine to see a very tall man at the counter, ordering something that was going to require a lot of syrups and whipped cream. Jensen automatically reached for the espresso when something caught his eye.

He knew those shoulders. And the pecs that were now straining a light grey t-shirt had recently been testing the limits of an orange supersuit. Jensen glanced upwards to see blue-green eyes that also looked startlingly familiar, and he quickly ducked his head to hide behind the espresso machine. 

God, the guy was even hotter when his body wasn't in spandex, which really shouldn't have been possible.

"Jensen, I need a large caramel pumpkin spice latte, extra whip," Felicia called out, sliding the empty cup down the counter.

"On it," he replied, head down like he was concentrating on pulling the perfect shot even though it was just going to get covered with sugar and artificial flavors and dairy. 

Then again, a superhero probably needed a lot of calories to get through the day. Especially one who generated fire, or whatever it was that Incendium did. Jensen's power didn't draw a huge amount of energy, probably because even though he was manipulating matter, it was a small amount at a time. He still had to run and work out and stuff to look halfway decent. Incendium here probably looked that awesome just from doing his superhero thing, not to mention that being able to set things on fire was so much cooler than what Jensen could do. It was so unfair.

Sighing to himself, Jensen finished the drink and checked the label before setting it on the counter. "Large caramel pumpkin for Jared!" he called out before turning away. At least he had one up on the guy by knowing his name. Not that he would do anything with that knowledge. It was really bad form to unmask other supers, and even the villains and their minions avoided doing it. It was too easy to retaliate, and then no one would win.

"Um, excuse me?"

"Yeah," Jensen said over his shoulder. Unlike Incendium, he hadn’t had his mask on yesterday, since he hadn't been expecting to encounter anyone besides Misha. It would take about two seconds for the guy to recognize him, and then he'd be sunk.

"I'm sorry, but I asked for whipped cream?"

_Damn it._ Jensen turned around to fix his mistake. When he grabbed the cup, Incendium—no, _Jared's_ fingers were still wrapped around it, and a shiver went down Jensen's back as their hands touched.

Startled, he looked up to find Jared looking back at him, eyes slowly widening. 

Jensen snatched the cup and squirted a pile of whipped cream on it. "Here you go. Have a nice day."

He didn't quite make it away from the counter before Jared's hand latched onto his arm. "Sorry, I thought I met you the other day, but I didn't catch your name. It's Jensen?"

He silently cursed Felicia for using his name out loud. "And you're Jared," he returned, tapping the side of the cup.

Jared swallowed, long neck working with the motion. "Um, yeah." He let go of Jensen's arm, dropping his gaze to his cooling coffee.

Jensen sighed and leaned closer. "I don't have a break for a couple of hours, but maybe we should talk?"

Jared nodded. "Yeah, we definitely should." He held up his drink. "I'll be working over by—wherever there's a free table."

"Enjoy your coffee," Jensen said before finally turning away.

He didn't even get to start making the next drink before Felicia accosted him, as he knew she would. "OMG, he's so hot! Do you know him? Are you dating him?"

"We just ran into each other recently, but we haven't talked yet. Might go over and say hi on my break."

"You can take a break now if you want." Felicia was clearly eyeing Jared's back as he stood in the middle of the coffee shop, looking for an empty table. Or maybe she was eyeing a little lower down. Jensen certainly was.

"No, it's okay. He came here to work, so I should let him work."

She gave him a side-eye but didn't say anything, and he was grateful to be let off the hook.

Jensen got more nervous as the morning went on. For one, Jared was definitely crush-worthy even out of spandex. For another, he knew Jensen was associated with a supervillain. Was he going to try to turn them in? Or did he think Jensen had been threatening him by emphasizing that he knew his name? What if he'd been calling in his superhero buddies while sitting there pretending to type on his laptop? What if they were going to ambush Jensen, right here in the coffee shop?

He was working himself up into a lather when, across the room, Jared looked up at him. He had a slight frown on his face, but when he saw Jensen looking at him, he gave a tentative smile.

Fuck. He even had dimples.

Jensen threw his apron on the counter. "I'm taking my break," he said to Felicia.

He snagged a chocolate croissant from the counter as he went over. "How's your work going?" he asked, hovering over Jared.

Jared looked up through his bangs. "Um, pretty good. I'm kinda distracted more than usual, though."

"You come here often?" Jensen asked.

Jared raised his eyebrows. When Jensen rolled his eyes at himself, Jared went on, "Never been here before, actually. Usually I work down the street, but the line was too long there today."

"My lucky day," Jensen muttered. He held out the croissant. "Hungry?"

Jared looked at him for a moment, his expression turning much more serious than the question would suggest. Finally, he said, "I think I feel like a walk. Want to join me?"

Jensen cast a nervous glance outside. He didn't see any lurking superheroes, so he might as well take his chances. "Yeah, all right. For ten minutes or so."

There was a park across the street, and the weather was nice enough that they could stroll around it. They were silent for a while, until Jensen started wondering if he was going to have to extend his break time somehow.

But then, Jared cleared his throat. "So, Copperman? I don't mean to be rude, but I hadn't actually heard that one before."

"It's supposed to be Cuprum," Jensen muttered.

"Ah. Latin for copper."

Jensen nodded. See, Misha was wrong. People would know what the name meant.

"Well. I mean, I admit that Latin names are cool and all." Jared made a _duh_ gesture and went on in a low tone, "But it doesn't really sound like anything, you know? It's pretty clear with Copperman what you can do. Maybe you should stick with that."

"It sounds like I'm made of copper," Jensen returned just as quietly. It wasn't likely they were being overhead, and conversations about supers were fairly common here. Still, it didn't hurt to be careful. "Or that I have a copper suit. Which I clearly don't."

"I don't think it sounds like that. And it's a pretty cool power. At least, I assume that's what it means? That you can manipulate copper?"

"I can manipulate one stupid kind of metal. Big deal. It's not like I can make _fire_ happen or something cool like that." Oh, man. He not only straight out gave away his power, he admitted that he found Jared's cool. Misha would kill him if he heard about this conversation.

Jared shrugged modestly. "It's a lot more trouble than you might think."

"Still, it's superhero level stuff. Not me. I'm going to be stuck as a minion forever."

"So you and Nullifier are really a team then?" Jared sounded almost sad.

"Yeah. I mean, he's the only super I've ever worked with. My power came on so late, and it was so minor, that people weren't exactly lining up to work with me." Jensen really needed to stop talking before he gave away everything. Maybe Incendium also had the power to compel people to talk? It couldn't just be that his shaggy hair and friendly face were making Jensen want to spill everything. Jensen usually had better self control than that.

Jared was frowning at him. "What do you mean, so minor? You can basically manipulate electricity, right? Or at least the wiring that conducts it. That's got to have a lot of potential."

"Yeah, I guess." Jensen shrugged. "It's been helpful in building some of his contraptions. Or at least in keeping them from causing any big problems."

"Wait a minute." Jared put his hand on Jensen's arm, and they came to a stop. "Are you saying that you've been keeping Nullifier from doing more harm to the city?"

"More like protecting him from blowing himself up. And me. Like yesterday, maybe his death ray would have actually singed downtown or something. He did manage to fuck up the river pretty good that one time."

Jared leaned closer. "Don't tell anyone, but that was actually kind of cool. All of the purple and red and orange Kool-Aid powder made the river look really neat. I was kind of sad they had to vacuum it all up, even though I know it probably wasn't very good for the fish."

"It wasn't like he was trying to poison anyone. It was almost more like performance art."

"Okay, I can see that, but what about that machine he was building yesterday? That looked pretty dangerous. You called it a death ray?"

Jensen rolled his eyes and nudged Jared towards a small copse of trees, off the main path. When they got there, he said, "That's what he called it. He's kind of mad at the city for using so many resources. He got his doctorate in environmental studies but never got a job. So he started developing these ways to demonstrate the harm that people were doing to the environment, and it kind of escalated from there." Jensen knew that Misha would object to him telling his origin story to a superhero, especially the one who'd set his lab on fire, but somehow it was important to him that Jared knew the truth about him.

"Like an eco-terrorist?" Jared frowned.

Okay, maybe it was going to take a little more work. "No, like I said, more like performance art. He doesn't have any powers himself, just a really creative mind. But when the thing with the river happened, people assumed it was someone who meant the city harm, and he kind of got tagged as a supervillain without setting out to be one. He got mad, picked the name Nullifier, and set out to show people they were wrong about him."

Jared suddenly looked stricken. "But that's what's been on the news since yesterday. That he was the one who set his lair on fire. But that…that was me."

"Yeah, he's kind of pissed about that."

"Shit. I didn't—I wasn't trying to set the whole building on fire! I just wanted to stop him from hurting anyone."

"You destroyed his whole lair, you know. All of his tools, all of his projects." Jensen fluttered his fingers to indicate it all going up in smoke.

"What about you? Did I damage anything of yours?"

"I'm just the minion," Jensen shrugged. "I don't have my own stuff. Don't really need it for my powers."

"Good." Jared gave him a small smile. "I wouldn't want to hear that I'd just created the next supervillain of Super City."

"Yeah, I might wind a bale of copper wire around you or something."

"I don't know, you could probably be pretty tough if you put your mind to it."

Jared was looking at him seriously enough that Jensen had to look away. "Nah, I'm fine where I'm at. I'd rather stay under the radar, you know?"

"Yeah, I can see that." 

They were quiet for a moment. Then Jensen said, "Look, my break must be over by now. I gotta get back inside."

"No, sure, I get it. Sorry. Just…um." Jared fiddled with the strap of his backpack. "Can I see you again sometime?"

Jensen frowned. "You can always come into the coffee shop. I'm there weekday mornings."

"Oh! Oh, yeah, sure." Jared's face fell, and he started to turn away.

The light bulb clicked on over Jensen's head. "Oh! You mean, like, not at the coffee shop."

The corner of Jared's mouth curved up. "Yeah, that's right."

"You're not trying to recruit me away as a sidekick, are you?"

"What would I have to do to make that happen?" The tone of Jared's voice was dangerously close to flirtatious, and it made Jensen's stomach swoop in a way that wasn't at all unpleasant.

Taking a leap, he looked up from under his lashes. "I don't know, maybe we should talk about it over dinner?"

Jared's breath caught, and Jensen wanted to do a fistpump. "Yeah, maybe we should."

Jensen grinned. "Friday night? Meet me outside the coffee shop at six?"

"Yes! Yes, that sounds great. Unless, you know. Something comes up."

"Oh! Right, yeah. I get it." Jensen winked at him and then turned to leave.

All the way back to the coffee shop, and all throughout the afternoon, Jensen replayed the conversation in his head. On the one hand, he'd been really stupid. He'd gone along with someone he knew was a superhero, and who knew who he was, and he'd barely thought twice about it. Then he'd told Jared more details about himself than he'd told anyone except Misha. Truth be told, he'd told him more about Misha than about himself. At any rate, it was not good protocol to just open up to a superhero like that.

What did he really know about Incendium, anyway? He'd been practicing in Super City for what, four years now? A little longer than Jensen, but given the extent of his powers, it wasn't surprising that he would be more well known. 

When he got home that afternoon, Jensen spent a while looking up Incendium's heroics through old news articles. He soon realized there weren't really that many. He helped firefighters practice drills, and he set firebreaks elsewhere in the state when wildfires were threatening. His biggest claim to fame was stopping the Iceman from freezing all of the water in the city because it would have burst all of the water pipes. 

To be sure, that was more than Jensen had ever done. But it still surprised him. How could someone who wielded all that power use it so little?

He didn't want to ask Misha about it, given how his houseguest was grumbling about having had his lair destroyed. Jensen wasn't sure what he did all day while Jensen was at work, and he didn't want to annoy Misha by reminding him too many times that he was not to try out any of his evil mastermind plans in Jensen's house. Hopefully he was busy looking for a new place to live and work. 

When Friday came, Jensen was uncharacteristically nervous. He botched multiple coffee orders, something he rarely did. Felicia finally sent him home early, telling him to calm down, it was going to go fine. Thankfully, Misha was out, so Jensen could try on three different outfits and style his hair two different ways before finally heading back out.

Jared was waiting in front of the coffee shop, a steaming to-go cup in his hand. His expression brightened when he saw Jensen. "Hi!"

Jensen felt his nerves go up a notch. "Hi." Jared was in a black button-down and black slacks, a light blue scarf around his neck. He looked sophisticated and delectable, and here Jensen was wearing a grey henley and faded jeans. 

"You look good," Jared said. 

"So do you." Jensen cleared his throat. "So, um, where are we going?"

"I didn't really make plans. I thought we could walk around a bit, discuss what we wanted to do?"

"Oh, sure."

"I'm not usually into restaurants that are fancy enough to require reservations, anyway," Jared with a small grin.

"Same." Jensen gestured towards the park where they'd walked before and willed himself to settle down. "Shall we?"

They talked about the week that had just passed, Jensen sharing some customer stories from the coffee shop and Jared talking about the eighth graders that he taught. They paused at an overlook with the river below them while they were talking, but then the conversation kind of died off as they took in the view.

Jared was the first to speak. "I gotta admit, I'm a little nervous here."

Jensen stared at him. "You?"

"Yeah. You know. We had such a good conversation the other day, really hit it off. Or at least I thought so." He looked up hopefully, and when Jensen nodded, he went on, "I don't want this to be some awkward formal date kind of thing. I just want to get to know you better. That's why I didn't plan on anything in particular. I hate it when one person takes charge and the other one has to go along with it."

"Yeah, same." Jensen reached up to rub at the back of his neck. "And then I, uh, I haven't really been on a date in a while."

Jared drew his head back. "Seriously? I would think guys would be falling all over themselves to be with you. Or girls. Or small woodland creatures, for that matter."

Jensen chuckled. "That's nice of you to say. I just haven't…it's kind of a deterrent to think that one of the most important things about myself is something I can't tell anyone about, you know?"

The rueful expression on Jared's face said he knew exactly what Jensen meant. "And you haven't been…" Jared looked around and noticed the family standing nearby taking in the view. "Working your other job for that long, have you?"

"Only a couple of years. Not nearly as long as you." When Jared's eyebrows shot up, Jensen went on, "I might have done a little googling."

"I might have, too," Jared admitted with a sheepish grin.

Jensen looked at him for a moment. Then he jerked his head sideways to indicate the path they'd been on. "There's a good Mexican joint just across the river. Cheap Corona and all the tortilla chips you can eat."

Jared put a hand over his stomach. "I can eat a _lot_."

"Shall we put them to the test?"

Jared grinned, and they started walking.

The restaurant also had some quiet, secluded booths towards the back. Jensen asked the server for one of those, and she was happy to oblige. As they slid into the booth, he said to Jared, "Might be easier to have a conversation here than in some other places."

"Yeah, that's true."

"Not that we have to. I mean, not that it has to get serious. Just, you know."

Jared smiled. "It's like you said. It's hard to go out with someone if you can't tell them all about yourself."

Even after that, they kept the conversation to non-super topics. Jensen heard about Jared's childhood in a city far to the east with his older brother and younger sister and loving parents. He didn't say anything about having his powers, and Jensen didn't pry. For his turn, he talked about a completely normal childhood a few towns away from here, going to college and graduating without any idea of what to do next, and then his powers suddenly manifesting not long after graduation.

"If I'd known, I'd've majored in electrical engineering instead of political science, you know?"

Jared's smile was a little more tight than before. "Would have been hard to hide what you can do, though. Assuming you would have wanted to."

"Yeah, there were always rumors about other students having powers. It would have been a tough choice, I guess."

Jared took a long swig of his Corona but didn't reply.

Fortunately, their food came at that moment, forestalling any more awkward moments. Jared relaxed as he ate, and soon they were talking about lighter topics again.

At the end of the meal, they took a long walk along the riverfront, occasionally bumping shoulders as they went. Jensen couldn't remember connecting so well with someone so fast. It was a shame they were on opposite sides when they were in their respective uniforms, because he really liked Jared.

They came to a halt near a tram station, and Jared gestured at the sign. "This is the route that goes to my place. Want to come over for some coffee?"

Jensen's heart skipped a beat. Apparently, they were on the same wavelength.

Jared's place was a loft apartment in an old warehouse. Jensen could feel some of the old copper wiring still in the walls, and he briefly reached out to make sure it was all in working order. When he opened his eyes, he saw Jared watching him. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Old buildings can have faulty wiring. I wanted to make sure this one was okay."

Jared's smile was warm. "You always check up on buildings like that?"

"Usually, I have to worry about someone seeing me." Jensen's smile was more shy. "It's nice not to have to."

Jared did make them some coffee, but when they brought it to the coffee table in front of the couch, they both set their cups down without drinking. Instead, they reached for each other and fell into a kiss.

Jensen was pleased to note that Jared's hair felt exactly as good between his fingers as he'd imagined it would. And that Jared's large hands on his back were just the right mix of comforting and arousing. For the moment, though, he was content to kiss and be kissed, to learn the feel of Jared's mouth against his and to catalog the delightful sounds Jared made as their lips and tongues met.

The sharp smell of something burning broke the spell, and Jensen drew back in alarm. Jared's eyes had gone wide, and he leaped up to pull the afghan off the back of the couch and hurl it to the concrete floor. He stomped on the flames that had sprung up on the afghan, and after a moment, they subsided, leaving the smell of burnt cotton behind them.

"Um." Jared ran his hand through his hair. "I'm really sorry about that."

"That was you?"

He nodded, looking more nervous than Jensen had seen him before. "Sometimes if I'm not concentrating, my powers will just…" He made a gesture with one hand like a flame flickering upwards. 

"Oh. Wow. I didn't realize that could happen."

"It's the downside of having powers like mine." Jared slumped back against the couch. "You think your power is too minor, but at least you can't accidentally hurt anyone with it."

"I guess I never thought of that." Jensen put a hand on Jared's thigh to reassure him that he wasn't freaked out or bothered.

Jared shot him a small, grateful smile in response. "It was not a good power to have as a kid."

"Oh, wow. You've had it that long?"

Jared nodded. "Since I was about eight, I think. My parents figured it out before I did, and they took me to a superdoctor to get diagnosed. He said pyrokinesis was rare but powerful, and he recommended that they put me in a superschool right away."

"What was that like?"

"Oh, I didn't go. My parents were insistent that I be raised like a 'normal' kid. But they had to sign so much paperwork with the school, and there was always a teacher's aide to watch me until I was into my teens."

"That must have sucked. Not much of a normal experience after all, huh?"

"The school did its best. But they were right, I could have been dangerous. Other kids were always asking me to set stuff on fire, but I was terrified. I didn't want to hurt anyone or burn the school down or anything like that."

Jensen squeezed Jared's leg. "Do you think you would have been better off at a superschool?"

"Maybe? I don't know. I had this friend who—" Jared broke off and shook his head.

"What happened?" Jensen asked softly.

"You remember Stormbringer?" When Jensen nodded, he went on, "We lived on the same block and were pretty good friends as kids. He went to the superschool that I was supposed to go to. He even tried to get me to go along with him." Jared shook his head. "It turns out that there's…that some kinds of powers are more susceptible to villainy than others. I mean, no one's going to try and turn Rainbow Girl, you know what I mean? But someone who can manipulate the weather…that can be used for all sorts of dastardly things."

Jensen realized where this was going. "Same for someone who can manipulate fire."

Jared nodded, hunching his shoulders. "I wonder if they might not have gotten me, too. I mean, I've been approached a few times. There are supervillains out there who would be willing to take on a partner, if they could do what I can do."

"You could never be a supervillain," Jensen said, rubbing the top of Jared's thigh.

Jared turned to look at him, features carefully blank. "Why not?"

"You're too good a person. You're nice, and you care about other people, even the ones whose lairs you burn down. I can't imagine you deliberately trying to hurt someone."

The corner of Jared's mouth turned up. "You really think so?"

"If you weren't Incendium, you'd be Mister Nice Guy."

"Oh, I can be plenty mean when I have to. Don't you remember me destroying Nullifier's death ray?"

Jensen winced. "Yeah, but if I can offer some constructive criticism, you need to work on your phrasing. You sounded way too stiff and formal."

"You think so?" Jared frowned. "I've been aiming for enough grandioseness to overshadow the fact that I'm wearing bright orange spandex."

Jensen moistened his lips. "I hate to tell you, but there isn't much that's going to overshadow that."

A slow grin spread over Jared's face. "No?"

"No." Jensen leaned forward, and Jared met him halfway.

They didn't do much talking after that. And this time, nothing was set on fire.

A few days went by, and Jensen was the happiest he'd been in years. He and Jared constantly texted back and forth, and they already had plans for a second date next Friday. On Thursday night, he was on the couch at home, texting while watching a movie that he was only half paying attention to. 

Misha emerged from his room and sat down next to him. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"Just this guy I met."

"Jensen! You didn't tell me you were dating." Misha leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Is he a supervillain? Are you trying to replace me?"

"He's not a supervillain," Jensen said. Shit, he hadn't thought of what to say to Misha when this topic inevitably came up. He was going to have to—

"Is he a superhero?"

Jensen couldn't think of a response fast enough, and Misha's face fell. "Seriously? You're dating the enemy?"

"He's not the enemy, Misha, he's just another guy who has powers."

"As long as it's not Incendium."

Jensen quietly turned off his phone and braced himself.

Sure enough, Misha nearly exploded. "Are you serious? Are you telling me that you're dating my archnemesis?"

Jensen fought to keep from rolling his eyes. "Misha, he's not your archnemesis."

"He set my lab on fire! He destroyed all of my work! What else would you call him?"

"He didn't mean to do it."

Misha put his hands on his hips. "Oh, so you're taking his side now?"

"I'm not—listen, Misha, we don't talk about super stuff." Jensen crossed his fingers behind his back at the little white lie. "We talk about other stuff. He's a really great guy."

"Well. Maybe he needs a sidekick."

"No, that's not what's going on."

"Sure seems like it to me." Misha got up from the couch and drew himself up to his full height. "You know, I've been thinking about trying a different approach with my work. Of looking on this catastrophe as a chance to start over and seek new opportunities."

"That sounds great, Misha." Jensen nodded encouragingly.

"I figure I've tried chemical science, which worked okay, and mechanical science, which worked not at all. But I haven't tried anything biological yet." He took a step forward and poked Jensen in the chest. "And since copper repels micro-organisms, I won't be needing your assistance anymore."

Jensen frowned. "It's not like I'm made of copper, Misha. I can still do other things."

"No, I think it's best if I go it alone. No more minions, just me." Misha inclined his head. "I am most grateful for your hospitality, Jensen. But I must be off."

He retreated to his room despite Jensen calling after him, emerging about half an hour later with a suitcase and a wave of his hand. "Misha, wait," Jensen tried again, but he was gone.

Jensen sat back on the couch, mood plummeting like a falling satellite. He'd been fired as a minion. And finding out about Jared might have been the final straw, but it sounded like Misha had been considering this for a while now. Jensen was so terrible at being super, he couldn't even hold onto his minion status.

At least he still had a job at the coffee shop.

Jared came by the next day as planned, right as Jensen's shift was ending. "Can I walk you home?" he asked, fluttering his eyelashes. 

Jensen handed him a large pumpkin caramel latte with extra whipped cream. "I screwed up someone's order, so it would be a shame if this went to waste."

"What a coincidence, it's my favorite drink." Jared accepted the cup and dropped a kiss on Jensen's lips. "How are you?"

"All right, I guess." When Jared frowned, he said, "I need to talk to you. About, uh, my roommate."

They found a private spot in the park across the street, and Jensen explained what had happened. Jared's face fell as he talked, and when he was done, Jared said, "I am so, so sorry. I never wanted to come between you like that."

"I don't think it was you, really. I think that was just an excuse." Jensen sighed heavily. "I think I was terrible at working for him."

"Well, maybe it's time for you to strike out on your own. Not as a minion or a sidekick. But as Copperman!"

"Or Cuprum."

"No, it really should be Copperman." Jared gave him a quick smile. "What about making a suit for yourself? If you can manipulate metal, it should be pretty easy, right?"

"If I want to look like a knight in armor," Jensen retorted. "It'd be kind of hard to move with all of those plates clanking around."

"No, not like that. Haven't you ever seen cloth made with copper? It repels microbes, so if you have some copper fibers in with your other material, it makes it microbe-resistant. Which means it's not going to smell." Jared looked around for a moment and then lowered his voice. "I hear that it really enhances spandex. For people who sweat a lot in it."

"So I can make anti-sweat clothing. Yay, me."

"Everyone's got to start somewhere. And hey, at least you know you won't accidentally make things worse by using your powers." 

Jensen shrugged. "Feels like I should be doing something more exciting, though."

"I could help you test it out if you wanted."

Jensen thought about it for a moment. Finally he said, "Why the hell not? What else am I going to do?"

The next morning, after Jensen got home from another highly successful date with Jared, he got to work. One of the advantages of owning his own house was that it had a huge garage, which was stuffed to the gills with all sorts of kinds of copper. Unfortunately, that was a pretty valuable commodity in and of itself, but he'd developed a few contacts as Cuprum to ensure a stable supply. 

He went through his stash to pull out the very thinnest wires he could find, whittling them down to an even thinner level. Then he started with his spare suit, weaving the wires through the existing fabric with a series of careful gestures.

When he was done, he put it on. It felt stiffer than before, even though it looked the same. At least it didn't seem to restrict his movements. He had no idea if it would make a difference, but it was worth a shot.

Jared asked if he would do the same for one of his suits, and Jensen did. Jared wore it for a few days and pronounced it a huge success. "You don't understand, Jensen. I sweat a _lot_. And spandex doesn't wash very well, and I'm tired of going around smelling like a gym locker. Kind of messes with the whole superhero image."

"I can see that," Jensen replied with a grin. "So, should I be opening up my own shop? Selling to superheroes and supervillains alike?"

"I don't know, I kind of like having a one-of-a-kind." Jared twirled around, his cape flying out behind him. 

Jensen rolled his eyes. Jared did have a flair for the dramatic. 

Just then, Jensen's phone rang, and he answered. "Hello?"

"Jensen?"

"Misha? Um, how are you?"

"I realize this is awkward given our last conversation, but I need your help, Jensen. And I need it quickly."

He glanced at Jared. "Why do you need my help?"

"My attempts at biological engineering have been…more successful than I thought. I'm afraid I will soon no longer be able to control the results."

Jensen pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Misha, what did you do?"

"I know I used your affinity for copper as an excuse for getting rid of you. But that is exactly what I need now. Can you build a containment field?"

"A containment field?"

Jared's eyebrows shot up, and he tugged at his collar to show the orange spandex underneath with a questioning face.

Jensen waved him off as Misha went on, "There's an old fire tower in the hills just beyond the city limits. It's where I set up shop. Meet me a little bit to the east of it."

"How will I know if I'm in the right spot?"

"Oh, you'll know," Misha said ominously before hanging up.

Jensen turned to Jared. "Want to come help save the day?"

As it turned out, they had absolutely no trouble finding the spot. There was a ring of bare ground around the base of the fire tower, and it seemed to be incrementally growing as they watched. The tall grasses and short shrubs looked like they were slowly dissolving before their eyes.

"Did you seriously have to bring him?"

They whirled around to see Misha tromping towards them with a shovel and a drip torch. Jensen asked, "What did you _do_?"

Misha sighed. "They're microbes that are supposed to eat up organic waste. They could go through a landfill and remove all of the organic material, leaving more room for the other stuff and reducing the methane that's emitted."

"That actually sounds like a really good idea," Jared said.

Misha glared at him. "Except they're eating organic _everything_." 

"Oh," Jared said. "Shit."

"Yeah, exactly." Misha turned to Jensen. "I was hoping that you could create a wall of copper to keep them restricted, assuming they really are repelled by the stuff. It'll stop them from getting any farther into the hills or towards the city. Then we can destroy them from here." He held up the drip torch.

Jensen could think of a more effective way to set things on fire, but now was probably not the time to remind Misha of Jared's powers. "Okay. Um, it's probably going to take a lot of copper. I'm going to have to go back into town to get some." Misha nodded, and he went on, "In the meantime, can you set a fire in part of the perimeter? Try to drive them to one side?"

"What if it sets the grass on fire?" Jared asked.

"It's too risky," Misha reluctantly agreed. "Besides, we don't dare get close enough to risk them eating us. Just hurry up."

"Okay. You, um, don't hurt each other while I'm gone." Jensen got into his truck and sped back down the hill.

He gathered up the largest pieces of copper he had in his garage, hoping they would be enough. They rattled together in the back of his pickup as he raced back up the hill.

When he got there, things had gotten much worse. The perimeter of vegetation had moved back even farther from the fire tower. Jensen hopped out of the truck and instantly started levitating sheets of copper a few feet outside that perimeter. When they got into place, he pushed them down into the ground.

Slowly but surely, the site was being encircled. The microbes were too small to be seen, but even though the vegetation right up to the copper walls was disappearing before their eyes, it seemed like the grasses and shrubs outside the walls remained intact. 

"Thank God," Misha said, his hand over his face.

Jensen didn't have quite enough copper to go all the way around the circle, but he figured the drip torch could handle the missing section. When he said as such to Misha, he shook his head. "We can flambé them from this side of the wall, but we can't get close enough if they're not secure. We're made of organic material too, you know."

"Our suits." Jared pointed at his chest. "Jensen's threaded copper wire through them. They'll repel the microbes all by themselves."

"Of course he did," Misha muttered. More loudly, he went on, "And the rest of the suits are synthetic fibers?"

"Yeah," Jensen confirmed. "But let me get the smaller scraps out of the truck and make gloves real quick. In the meantime, Misha, can you lay out a firebreak with the drip torch? Beyond the gap in the fencing, where the microbes haven't gotten to yet?"

By the time Jensen was done, there was a semi-circle of burnt ground closing the circle that the fencing had missed. "Okay, good," Jensen said. He handed Jared one pair of copper gloves and tossed another pair to Misha before putting his own set on. Then he gestured at the enclosure and said to Jared, "Okay, light it up."

With a nervous glance at Misha, Jared said, "You know that means the fire tower is going to probably burn, too?"

"It needs to," Misha said glumly. "Some of the earlier versions are still up there."

"All right, then." Jared flexed his arms, looking like he was admiring the copper gloves before stepping forward and raising one hand in the direction of the tower.

The ground inside Jensen's copper fence was completely bare of vegetation. Whatever Misha had created, it was doing a damn good job of eating everything in sight. After a moment, Jared lowered his hand in frustration. "There's nothing to set on fire. Just rocks and dirt, and the metal struts of the tower. I'm not close enough to the wooden part to set it on fire. And I can't see these microbes, anyway."

"Then concentrate on the opening," Jensen said. "Where they can still get out."

They moved over to Misha's firebreak, and even if they couldn't see the microbes, they could see their slow advance in the way the grasses seemed to vanish. His expression grimmer than before, Jared raised his hands, and soon the remaining vegetation inside the firebreak was going up in flames.

After that, he walked around the outside of the fencing, Jensen following close behind. The fencing didn't come up higher than Jared's knees, so he was able to lean over it and direct a stream of fire at the inside base, where the copper would have stopped the microbes from advancing. 

Soon, a sharp smell started to rise up, and Jared crinkled his nose. "Ugh. That's not burning copper, is it?"

"I don't think your fire is hot enough to do that. I think it's the things we're trying to kill."

"Good." Jared moved on, carefully aiming his fire to make sure it washed over every inch of the copper. As he went, the material turned from its usual brown-gold sheen to a bright green with the heat of the fire, occasionally turning to a brilliant blue. Jensen watched, fascinated, as Jared continued around the perimeter.

Misha had started in the other direction with the drip torch, moving more slowly. Jensen could see the same change in the color of the copper as he went. Eventually they met on the far side of the enclosure, and Jared lowered his hands. That sharp smell was all around them, and Jensen sure hoped it would come out of their suits.

"Okay, round two," Misha said. "Jensen, you move the perimeter in, and we'll see if any of them got out."

One piece at a time, Jensen moved the enclosure inwards, far enough that there was now enough material to completely encircle the tower. Then he extended the copper fibers in the legs of his suit to wrap around his shoes as well. He walked around the burnt, blackened ground, pointing out places where grass was still disappearing on the edges. Either Misha with the drip torch or Jared with his hands turned the grass crispy until there was no sign of villainous microbes at work.

When they were done, Misha let out a big sigh. "Now the tower."

"You sure?" Jared asked.

"I can't risk anything else getting out. Just do it."

Jared lifted both hands, and soon, curls of smoke were rising from the wooden structure on top of the metal tower. They all watched as the flames rose high into the afternoon sky, snapping and crackling.

When a helicopter started to approach with the Super City Fire Department logo on it, Jared dug his mask out of a pocket. "I better go tell them what's going on."

When he was out of hearing, Jensen leaned closer to Misha. "Maybe now would be a good time for you to leave?"

Misha shook his head. "I have to face the consequences, Jensen. I did something that could have been truly awful. If not for you and Incendium, the whole city would be at risk. I deserve whatever's coming to me."

A few minutes later, the helicopter was rising into the air and Jared was walking back towards them. When he got close enough, he said, "We should go around the perimeter once more to make sure none of them escaped. Then I'll stay here until the structure is completely gone."

"And then what?" Misha asked.

Jared shrugged. "I guess that's up to you."

"You're not going to take me in?"

"I don't think I have to. You're the one who told me to destroy all your work this time. That tells me you were pretty serious about doing the right thing."

Misha sighed. "I guess I make a pretty terrible supervillain."

"There's worse things to be bad at," Jared said with a cheerful grin. "C'mon, let's do one more sweep."

Jensen stared after them as they walked away, chatting like old friends. That transformation was even harder to believe than knowing they'd apparently just saved the city from killer microbes.

Not only had they saved the city, but within a couple of days, everyone seemed to know it.

Jensen didn't rank highly enough in Super City to have a hotline for the authorities to contact him, but Incendium did. And as soon as Jared was contacted, he told them they needed to talk to Copperman, too.

Apparently the fight over his superhero name was lost, because the media were all now reporting that Copperman's ability to move and shape metal, combined with Incendium's firepower (and not a single news article missed out on the opportunity to use that pun), had saved the day. Jensen had explained about the copper gloves and the fibers in his suit to multiple news outlets, and within a week, he had a dozen orders from other supers in town for the same thing.

"I guess there's worse jobs than being a tailor," he said to Jared as they sat on his couch, watching themselves on the news.

"You're improving the quality of life of everyone in town," Jared replied. He lifted one arm and gave an exaggerated sniff. "Not just of the supers."

"We all have to do our part."

Jared put his arm around Jensen's shoulders. "I mean, not everyone can be as dramatically superpowered as me, you know."

Jensen poked him in the side, and when Jared squirmed away, Jensen grinned. "Are you ticklish, Incendium?"

Jared's eyes went wide. "Nope. Absolutely not. You don't want me to set something on fire by accident, do you?"

Jensen decided it was worth the risk.

A few minutes later, they were on the floor between the couch and coffee table, both laughing and gasping for breath. Jensen was mostly lying on top of Jared, and nothing in the living room was so much as smoking, so it seemed it had definitely been worth the risk.

"So where's Misha?" Jared asked.

Jensen stared down at him. "He's not going to interrupt us, if that's what you're worried about." 

"No, I just—I don't know, I feel kind of bad for him. And last time he was lair-less because of me, he stayed here for a while, so I thought it might be the same thing."

"No. He, ah, he decided to try something else. There's a monastery a few hours upriver, and he's going on a retreat there."

"A monastery? Wow."

Jensen sat back on his heels. "Yeah. He really felt like he went too far. And he needs some time to think about things and what he should do next. Definitely not supervillainy, but that's still a pretty wide range, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Jared ran his hands up and down Jensen's arms. "So what's next for you, Copperman?"

Jensen rolled his eyes. "Guess I'm stuck with that one now."

"I don't know, I kind of like it." Jared's expression turned serious. "What do you think, though?"

"I got a lot of tailoring to do," Jensen joked. When Jared's expression didn't change, he sighed. "I don't know. I'm obviously not a big enough deal to go out there on my own. Any real supervillain isn't going to want someone as a minion who saved the city. And I don't know, I don't really want to be a minion anyway. I liked saving the day."

"It has its perks," Jared agreed. His hands were still stroking Jensen's arms, making it a little difficult for him to concentrate. "What about being a sidekick instead?"

Jensen scoffed. "No one's going to want a sidekick who used to be a minion."

Jared pulled him back down and kissed him, long and slow. When he was done, he asked pointedly, "No one?"

Jensen's breath caught. "You?"

"I would love it! I mean, I don't know that our powers automatically go together, but you're smart, you think on your feet, and you want to do the right thing. That's all that it takes, really."

"That doesn't sound so different from what I was already doing," Jensen agreed.

Jared gave him another long kiss, this time with a few brushes of his tongue. When he pulled back, Jensen asked, "So do you have a lair? Or is it a secret hideout or something less villainous-sounding?"

"You've been to my apartment," Jared shrugged. "That's kind of it. I'm not really a big deal."

"Hey, not every superhero has to be in the headlines all of the time." Jensen ducked his head to give Jared a kiss. "Or any of the time, really. It wouldn't be so bad to just kind of quietly make things better."

"I like that idea." Jared slipped his hands under the back of Jensen's shirt and winked. "Although sometimes it's good to make things better in a loud way, too."

There was no way Jensen was going to argue with that.


End file.
